ABSTRACT

Objectives: To compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), and influenza infections.

Methods: This study prospectively enrolled 594 patients hospitalized with influenza-like illness (ILI) and laboratory-confirmed RSV, hMPV, or influenza infections over three consecutive influenza seasons at a tertiary hospital in China.

Results: While certain clinical features were of value as predictors of infection type, none exhibited good predictive performance as a means of discriminating between these three infections (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve < 0.70). After controlling for potential confounding variables, RSV infections in pneumonia patients were found to be associated with a 30-day mortality risk comparable to that of influenza patients [odds ratio (OR) 1.016, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.267–3.856, p = 0.982], whereas hMPV infection was associated with a reduced risk of mortality (OR 0.144, 95% CI 0.027–0.780, p = 0.025). Among those without pneumonia, the 30-day mortality risk in patients with influenza was comparable to that in patients infected with RSV (OR 1.268, 95% CI 0.172–9.355, p = 0.816) or hMPV (OR 1.128, 95% CI 0.122–10.419, p = 0.916).

Conclusion: Disease severity associated with these three types of viral infection was inconsistent when comparing patients with and without pneumonia, highlighting the importance of etiologic testing.